


Redemption: Drabbles

by Ermmmmmm



Series: Redemption [2]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Drabbles, M/M, Me not being able to let go, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 08:50:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4699808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ermmmmmm/pseuds/Ermmmmmm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set of drabbles using my earlier fic 'Redemption' as canon. Whereas some stories might just about make sense on their own, I'd read 'Redemption' first to make sense of everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Speech

**Author's Note:**

> So it's been less than a day and I've failed in letting go of my characters. Treat these as me expressing some creativity whilst I get things ready for the new story I'm putting together - I hope you like them. It'll show lots of sides to the characters that I didn't get time to show in the main story, especially exploring maybe some of Owen's and Alice's back stories, as well as showing some glimpses of Robert and Aaron's pre-/post-marital bliss. If you haven't read 'Redemption', here's the link for you to get started: http://archiveofourown.org/works/4514481/chapters/10268145 . I hope you enjoy these drabbles!

_GROOM #1’S SPEECH_

Those had been the only three words that had graced the otherwise blank document that Robert had started, remaining dormant for the last two hours. Aaron had gone for a drink with Adam, giving him the perfect opportunity to start working on his groom’s speech. The wedding had loomed up on them like a panther, the date now only two weeks from that moment. March hadn’t seemed so close when they made the decision; originally Aaron wanted to get married the same year and get it over and done with, but he knew how much Robert wanted to get it just right, so gave in to his fiancé somewhat easily.

Robert had meant to start writing his speech after the New Year, but after several promises to himself that he would start the following day, Owen’s texts enticing him out for a run would always win him over. Aaron hadn’t known Robert’s inner strife, of course; Robert was pretty certain that Aaron would write his speech on the back of an envelope the night before, if he was giving one at all. But that hadn’t stopped Robert’s stomach from churning every time he remembered that he still hadn’t started, every time that Vic would be down the phone from her new catering business about the wedding food.

Robert didn’t even know why he was so worked up about it; he had given too many speeches to count, many of them completely off the cuff. He had given his engagement speech off the cuff, buoyed by champagne and a relaxed atmosphere. But his wedding day would be the most important day of his life. He remembered his first wedding day, how writing that speech had been a doddle. Giving it was another matter, especially considering he had just thrown his sister-in-law into an early grave, but he had managed to get it sorted months beforehand, even before he had started seeing Aaron. _Maybe that shows the difference between Aaron and Chrissie_ , he thought, frowning under the pressure he was placing mercilessly upon himself to deliver.

He wondered whether he ought to start with some sort of anecdote, some amusing aside or something funny or poignant that Aaron had said. He knew Owen would have packed amusing anecdotes into his best man speech (with the bluntly cutting assistance of Alice), so he didn’t want to tread on his toes. He certainly didn’t want to bring up his chequered past yet again; the year was 2021, and 2015 had felt like an eternity ago, the clouds of history and the warm breeze of forgiveness putting his transgressions firmly to bed. He didn’t want to make Aaron feel too uncomfortable either; he knew how much Aaron hated too much gushing praise, preferring his actions to speak louder than the words people said about him. He wasn’t completely exempt from compliments; Robert would see about that. However, it had to be something that Aaron could sit through and smile, not cower in embarrassment.

In an odd way, he resented Adam’s seemingly easy hand in his own role as Aaron’s best man. They had had a whole seven years or so of extra time spent together to draw upon, a whole bank of extra material to make Aaron squirm and laugh in equal measure. He felt instantly uncool, feeling his age somewhat as he remembered the age gap between them. Most of the time, he never felt as though he was knocking on thirty five, instead revelling in the fact that Aaron was going to be thirty in less than a year’s time (which always earnt death by dirty look). But right at the moment, he was acutely aware that they were part of different friendship groups in their youth, grew up separately of each other. Even Vic was more Aaron’s age than Robert’s, and he felt all at sea when Aaron’s friends had been supporting him since the beginning.

He looked out of the large windows from his desk, the desk pointing outwards to the skyline and the city below. He found it helped to calm him, observing the rest of the people like ants, going about their own lives with their own problems, fears, hopes. He felt instantly as though he wasn’t alone, as though there were people just like him down there. But not that night. They weren’t all writing the most important speech of their life, they weren’t getting married to someone whom they absolutely adored, someone who deserved so much. Robert put his face in his hands for a short moment and walked over to the spirits cabinet, taking out the half-empty bottle of posh vodka and pouring a liberal splash into one of the crystal glasses. He let the liquid guide his self-esteem, giving him hope as it necked it back, making his face shudder slightly with its razor sharpness.

Hoping that the alcohol had done its trick, he walked slowly back to his desk. He treaded cautiously, as if he were approaching a dragon, waiting for his one single opportunity to slay it. He sat down in the leather office chair, swinging around in it absent-mindedly as he searched desperately for a stroke of genius. As he slowed down before getting too dizzy, he noticed the photo album Robert had been amassing jutting out of the book shelf at an angle. He chuckled to himself as he remembered Aaron’s mock-scorn, not impressed that his fiancé had embraced the rather twee obsession of making photo albums instead of just having them on his phone.

“Just because you can actually remember 1995”, Aaron rolled his eyes as he scrolled uninterestedly through the channels. Robert pouted as he printed off more of the photos and grouped them into moments to savour – their holiday in Nice, the engagement party, Christmas 2020 with the Sudgens, skiing in Chamonix. Now Robert was flicking through his completed album in the swivel chair, admiring all of the beautiful memories he and Aaron had completed along the way. He rubbed his thumb lovingly over the pictures of them grinning goofily into the camera on their sunbeds on the French Riviera, and laughed when he got to the one with Aaron’s sunburnt back from falling asleep. He smiled at the beautiful picture Vic had managed to take at the engagement party, the spotlight on Robert and Aaron alone as they held each other in each other’s arms, the outside world unable to touch them as they enjoyed a private moment together. He flicked through the many pages, belly laughing as he came across Aaron’s scowl wearing a Christmas jumper on Christmas Eve, remembering clearly Aaron’s resentment of having to wear the jumper after he lost a bet to Robert and Adam.

He turned the page, and was confused and sad as he realised he had reached the end of the photos and had reached the pages not yet filled. He flicked through the blank black pages, wondering where life would lead them next to fill the rest of the album. He wondered what holidays they would take, where they would explore the world together. He wondered whether one day they might have a family of their own to fill the pages, to chronicle their own paths as parents, giving their own gift to the world. He wondered how they might look in twenty years’ time, how age might change them on the outside and on the inside. Robert rubbed at his crown, sulking briefly about his emerging bold spot that Aaron hadn’t yet been able to notice.

Turning the pages in his hand, he allowed himself to dream, to create a beautiful future in his head.

Suddenly the lightbulb moment came.

He put the open album next to him on the desk and smiled as he turned back to his open document, the cursor flashing cruelly, begging him to fail. Robert set his fingers to typing, grinning as his ideas finally started to form.

_Before I start the speech proper, I’d like to thank you all so much for sharing our day with us today…_

Sorted.


	2. Moving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert moves out of the flat, but struggles when it turns out harder than he had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for continuing with Robert's story - it's lovely to see that there is still interest in what goes on in this universe, so thanks everyone for your support. I've written the detailed plan for my next big main fic, so I hope to get that out by Thursday if I can! It seems when I give myself a break, all I want to do is get back to writing again! Here's the next oneshot!

 

“How did I know that I was going to be the one with the fucking boxes?” Aaron huffed as he started to pick up the first of the many boxes littered around Robert’s tiny living room floor.

“You’re the one with the muscles”, Robert pointed out, Aaron sighing as he picked up the lightest box nearest the door and stumbled towards the door. “Besides, the council fixed the lift!”

“Fuck off”, Aaron shouted as he walked out of the door. Robert chuckled to himself as he put the last of his possessions into boxes, promising himself that he’d help Aaron out in a minute. He walked through into the bedroom, pulling open all of the drawers and all of the cupboards to check he hadn’t forgotten to pack something important. He let his hand drift along the chipped and uneven surface, feeling its imperfection bend and crease his fingers. He held limply onto the knobs of the drawers, feeling their cold, unpolished glow for the last time. He sat down on his lumpy mattress, feeling the springs up his arse as he shifted around for a comfortable position, an all-too-common feeling. But he didn’t feel inconvenienced by it – on the contrary, he felt homely, he felt a connection.

“What are you doing?” Aaron asked, exasperated after having carried two heavy boxes down already. "I'm not doing this all by myself”.

“Sorry”, Robert smiled, a tinge of something uncomfortable laced in his grin. “I’m coming!”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Aaron pouted slightly as he bent down for another box.

“Yeah”, Robert shook himself up a little. “Gimme a box, eh?”

“My pleasure”, Aaron smirked as he passed him a particular heavy box, Robert groaning as he underestimated how strong he was. The weight of the box allowed Robert to forget his problems for a few minutes, eternally grateful for the council finally having gotten their finger out with fixing the chronically intermittent lift. He turned to Aaron, who flashed a slow smile to Robert as they rode down the floors to the ground, the reality just starting to sink in for Aaron’s softly smiling face. Robert did his best to reciprocate, but he just had that niggling discomfort that he couldn’t quite place. He felt his heavy heart as he placed a box full of gadgets into the back of the van, caught in his throat as they locked the van up.

Robert suggested they climbed up the stairs as they put the last of the boxes in the boot, for old time’s sake. Robert felt one hand brush lightly along the smooth concrete banister, not even flinching as he passed over a semi-wet piece of chewing gum, his other hand firmly in Aaron’s grasp. The stairs did not seem half as steep as before, each step almost a pleasure as he put one foot in front of the other. He felt them guide him home, reminding him of his journey. He passed the fourth floor landing, where he, Owen, and Alice had managed to bum a late night drunk cigarette off of Janet, ranting about life well into the night. Despite the fact he abhorred the smoky aftertaste on his tongue and the dried out lungs for the next two days, he smiled fondly as Aaron’s hand guided him up.

Robert put the key into the lock and turned it, the extra brute force needed to turn the latches no chore for him as they entered, the room brimming with memories in its empty state. He simply stood in the hall as Aaron checked through food cupboards and chests of drawers for anything left behind. Robert walked forwards slowly through the living space, resting his hands on the cold radiator next to the window. He heard the sirens as police cars hurled themselves down the busy back streets of his rundown neighbourhood, no longer shocking anyone apart from the old ladies sat out to catch the number 37 bus. He heard the shouting from across the corridors of flats, arguments about washing lines and loud music soothing him into a nostalgic lull. He smiled as he saw some thirteen-year-old kids skiving school, sharing a mega-sized bottle of White Lightning around in the intermittent sunshine. It had been such a stark contrast to his frivolously luxurious life at Home Farm, but it had been real. It felt real. And anything that truly prickled at Robert’s senses made him feel a part of the real world, not the bubble wrapped pedestal from which he once stood with arrogance.  

“What’s up?” Aaron frowned as he stood up from unplugging the last of the appliances. “You’ve been quiet all morning, must be summat up wi’ ya”.

“Nothing”, Robert smiled wistfully. “It’s just…I never realised how much this place meant to me until I’m leaving it”.

“Even though it is almost a literal shithole?” Aaron looked bemused.

“Yeah”, Robert nodded, turning to look out of the window. “But it’s my shithole. It’s falling apart, it stinks of piss half the time…but it’s mine. It brought me back on my feet, I made it my own. I love it”.

“Y’don’t have to move in, y’know”, Aaron pointed out, Robert not sure whether he was joking or not.

“You havin’ a laugh?” Robert chuckled. “Of course I’m moving in with you! It’s just…I never realised what I had here until it’s going”, Aaron frowned again and Robert took his hand firmly. “But I’m more excited to start my next chapter with you. That’s what I want more than anything”.

“Good”, Aaron replied with a single nod. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah”, Robert huffed, not letting go of Aaron’s hand as they walked past the ageing armchairs and the broken coffee table for the final time. They reached the hallway, and Robert turned around. He remained silent, deciding to let the silence speak for itself as he bit his lip, tears almost forming as he left something so integral to his recovery behind. He nodded curtly, and turned back to Aaron, his boyfriend smiling sympathetically as he led them out to the sunbathed corridor outside.

Robert closed the door behind him, his hand shaking a little as he turned the lock for the last time. He took the key out slowly, savouring every moment he had before he surrendered ownership. He turned the key in his hand, feeling its cuts dig snugly into the insides of his knuckles. Opening the letterbox, he bent down gently, looking through it to see his empty flat. His sanctum. His peaceful corner. His. Before he could stop himself, he pushed the key through the letterbox and closed it.

“Let’s go”, Robert turned and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's that! I hope you liked it. I tried to keep it quite simple, with not too much dialogue - I liked just being able to sense Robert's mood. Hope you enjoyed, please do give Kudos and send comments, I love receiving them! Thanks, see you soon! :)


End file.
